By Katherine, Giorgi, Reagan, Alessandra One cold rainy day, Shay Montgomery was gazing at her reflection. She clasped her hands and asked God, “Why God, why am I not appealing like the other girls? Why did you choose me to go through this? Why was…”“Sweetie, come on, time to go to the doctors.” Shay replies, “Coming mom!” She mutters under her breath, “Another doctor’s appointment, uuuhhhhh!!!” Shay was a girl who was very depressed and felt all alone like no one knew what she was going through and how difficult the burden of cancer was. The wait in the hospital’s waiting room felt like a hundred years to Shay. When finally, they told her that her blood work was back. When she got into the minute room her doctor came in. It was conspicuous that he did not have good news. His voice was so monotonous it was hard to pay attention to what he was saying. Then when he declared, “Shay, you are going to die.” Shay froze! She tried to stifle her tears, but they came flooding out anyway. Then she saw her strong mother cry for the first time. Shay’s mother asked with all the strength she could muster, “How long does my baby have to live?” But Shay didn’t even hear the words coming out of her mother’s mouth. Shay was so shocked and confused she couldn’t find the courage to do anything at all. She felt hopeless, like time had stopped. The doctor replied, “Around 2-4 weeks.”When Shay got home she ran straight to her room and locked the door. Then the tears of such sorrow gave her another visit. Shay stayed in her room for over 48 hours without eating or sleeping. She just sat there staring at the blank, plain, wall in her room. Suddenly, she was startled by the knock on her door. She wiped away all the tears she had shed and opened the door. It was her mother, but it seemed as though her mom had been replaced with a pale, lifeless creature. Her mother said softly, “There is someone her to see you.” Shay thought to herself, “Who in the world would want to see me?” Then she hears a voice behind her mother that said, “Hi, my name is Noel.” Shay replies, “I am Shay, how did you find me?” “I just transferred to your school a few weeks ago and noticed that you haven’t been coming to school lately. I was wondering what was going what was going on so I decided to drop by.” After Shay and Noel first met, they became inseparable. They had a lot in common, including that they both had cancer and they didn’t have much time to live. Shay and Noel were accompanying each other at their sanctuary that was in an abandoned house that was a few blocks away from their neighborhood. That day was the day that they made their special dream list. Most of the things on it seemed impossible, but it was fun to think about actually doing them. There were three things on the dream list. There was being on the Oprah show, becoming famous, and winning a trophy. One day Shay said to Noel, “I just hatched a great idea!” “What is it?” Noel asked eagerly. “Well, wouldn’t it be so incredible if we could fulfill this dream list?” “That would be great, but…” Then Noel and Shay unveiled their plan to their parents. After careful planning, and pulling lots of strings, Shay, Noel, and their parents took off to fulfill their dream list. First, they started with the Oprah show. They wrote a letter to the producer of the Oprah Winfrey show. After 2 days of hoping and praying, they finally got a letter back saying that they could come in two days. Shay and Noel were ecstatic. They could hardly contain themselves. When Oprah finally said, “Please welcome Shay Montgomery and Noel Lovingsten!” Shay and Noel practically ran on the stage and jumped in the puffy white chairs. The whole show they talked about their struggles with cancer. At one point in the show, Noel bent over to Shay and said, “Wow, she is an eloquent speaker.” “Yeah she is splendid.”Now, Shay and Noel had completed two things on their dream list; being famous and being on Oprah. There was only one thing left; to win a trophy. One day when Shay was outside playing with Noel, she collapsed. When Shay was in the hospital Noel came to visit her. Noel sat by her side in her hospital bed. Noel said, “We were so close to finishing.” Shay replies, “No worries, we attained more than what we thought we ever could.” “Yeah your right.” Shay says softly,” I want to tell you something. I really appreciate all that you have done for me. My meeting you was invaluable and now my life feels complete.” Then Noel said, “Goodbye Shay,” “Goodbye Noel.” Then they both inflated their chests. And took their last, long slow breath forever.
By Katherine, Giorgi, Reagan, Alessandra One cold rainy day, Shay Montgomery was gazing at her reflection. She clasped her hands and asked God, “Why God, why am I not appealing like the other girls? Why did you choose me to go through this? Why was…” “Sweetie, come on, time to go to the doctors.” Shay replies, “Coming mom!” She mutters under her breath, “Another doctor’s appointment, uuuhhhhh!!!” Shay was a girl who was very depressed and felt all alone like no one knew what she was going through and how difficult the burden of cancer was. The wait in the hospital’s waiting room felt like a hundred years to Shay. When finally, they told her that her blood work was back. When she got into the minute room her doctor came in. It was conspicuous that he did not have good news. His voice was so monotonous it was hard to pay attention to what he was saying. Then when he declared, “Shay, you are going to die.” Shay froze! She tried to stifle her tears, but they came flooding out anyway. Then she saw her strong mother cry for the first time. Shay’s mother asked with all the strength she could muster, “How long does my baby have to live?” But Shay didn’t even hear the words coming out of her mother’s mouth. Shay was so shocked and confused she couldn’t find the courage to do anything at all. She felt hopeless, like time had stopped. The doctor replied, “Around 2-4 weeks.” When Shay got home she ran straight to her room and locked the door. Then the tears of such sorrow gave her another visit. Shay stayed in her room for over 48 hours without eating or sleeping. She just sat there staring at the blank, plain, wall in her room. Suddenly, she was startled by the knock on her door. She wiped away all the tears she had shed and opened the door. It was her mother, but it seemed as though her mom had been replaced with a pale, lifeless creature. Her mother said softly, “There is someone her to see you.” Shay thought to herself, “Who in the world would want to see me?” Then she hears a voice behind her mother that said, “Hi, my name is Noel.” Shay replies, “I am Shay, how did you find me?” “I just transferred to your school a few weeks ago and noticed that you haven’t been coming to school lately. I was wondering what was going what was going on so I decided to drop by.” After Shay and Noel first met, they became inseparable. They had a lot in common, including that they both had cancer and they didn’t have much time to live. Shay and Noel were accompanying each other at their sanctuary that was in an abandoned house that was a few blocks away from their neighborhood. That day was the day that they made their special dream list. Most of the things on it seemed impossible, but it was fun to think about actually doing them. There were three things on the dream list. There was being on the Oprah show, becoming famous, and winning a trophy. One day Shay said to Noel, “I just hatched a great idea!” “What is it?” Noel asked eagerly. “Well, wouldn’t it be so incredible if we could fulfill this dream list?” “That would be great, but…” Then Noel and Shay unveiled their plan to their parents. After careful planning, and pulling lots of strings, Shay, Noel, and their parents took off to fulfill their dream list. First, they started with the Oprah show. They wrote a letter to the producer of the Oprah Winfrey show. After 2 days of hoping and praying, they finally got a letter back saying that they could come in two days. Shay and Noel were ecstatic. They could hardly contain themselves. When Oprah finally said, “Please welcome Shay Montgomery and Noel Lovingsten!” Shay and Noel practically ran on the stage and jumped in the puffy white chairs. The whole show they talked about their struggles with cancer. At one point in the show, Noel bent over to Shay and said, “Wow, she is an eloquent speaker.” “Yeah she is splendid.” Now, Shay and Noel had completed two things on their dream list; being famous and being on Oprah. There was only one thing left; to win a trophy. One day when Shay was outside playing with Noel, she collapsed. When Shay was in the hospital Noel came to visit her. Noel sat by her side in her hospital bed. Noel said, “We were so close to finishing.” Shay replies, “No worries, we attained more than what we thought we ever could.” “Yeah your right.” Shay says softly,” I want to tell you something. I really appreciate all that you have done for me. My meeting you was invaluable and now my life feels complete.” Then Noel said, “Goodbye Shay,” “Goodbye Noel.” Then they both inflated their chests. And took their last, long slow breath forever.